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The Lancastrian Myth of 1399, and the modern myth. Here we see Henry III, descent from whom was incorporated into Henry IV’s speech claiming the throne on 30th September 1399 – why would he have done that? No mention of John of Gaunt, Edward III, Edward II or Edward I, but legitimate descent from Henry III? Adam of Usk tells us why; the crown had been wrongly passed to Edward I by Henry III because - according to the myth – the real elder son, Edmund Crouchback, was disabled. That’s what Henry IV meant when he claimed the throne by ‘right line’ from Henry III, right line being descent from Edmund, the first earl of Lancaster, Henry being sole male heir. This audacious origin story was politically astute as it ignored the claim of any other pretender to the crown and revealed himself as England’s true king – Richard II and all the Edwards originating from a usurping line. There is plenty of evidence outside Adam of Usk for the recourse to this myth in 1399 and later, including a sermon from Thomas Arundel (seemingly unknown to historians) on the biblical Jacob/Esau story in which the second son was given the patriarch’s blessing instead of the first-born. The modern myth Historians are forced to recognise the existence of this myth as it is so prominent in Henry’s speech, and Usk makes its meaning clear, but they ignore it by stating that Adam of Usk’s learned panel of doctors, gathered to examine how to depose Richard II, dismissed it. Unfortunately, they are in error as Usk never said that the myth was dismissed. So we find ourselves in a peculiar position: a modern myth – that the Lancastrian Myth was dismissed – has been imposed to erase the impact of a myth used 600 years ago to justify a new dynasty. One would suppose that such bizarre reasoning around one of England’s most important political events would attract more interest, but it seems to make History uncomfortable and it would prefer to pass by on the other side of the street. Helpfully, there are two chapters on the Lancastrian Myth in ‘1399: The Lancastrian Conquest’, published Jan 2027.